North Korea misses qualification for Winter Olympics

African nations such as Guinea-Bissau and Benin, where daily high temperatures often exceed 30 degrees Celsius even in early February, will send athletes to the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics. Including these two countries, which will be making their Winter Olympics debuts, a total of 15 athletes from eight African nations are expected to compete. By contrast, North Korea has not registered a single athlete among the 2,916 competitors from 93 countries who had completed registration for the Games as of Feb. 4.

North Korea last competed in the Winter Olympics at the 2018 PyeongChang Games, sending a delegation of 22 athletes across five events, including 12 players on the unified inter-Korean women’s ice hockey team. That delegation was the largest North Korea has ever fielded at a Winter Olympics.

The situation changed at the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics, when North Korea announced it would not participate, citing concerns over the potential spread of COVID-19. It was the only one of the International Olympic Committee’s 206 member nations to skip the Games. In response, the IOC imposed a three-year suspension on the North Korean Olympic Committee.

As a result, North Korea was ineligible to compete in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The suspension expired on Dec. 31, 2023, allowing the country to send a 14-member delegation to the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.

North Korea’s absence from the upcoming Games is due to its failure to secure any qualification spots. The figure skating pair of Ryeom Dae-ok, 27, and Kim Ju-sik, 33, who won silver at last year’s Harbin Asian Winter Games, was considered a strong contender but fell short at the final stage. To qualify, the pair needed a top-three finish at a qualifying competition held in September last year but placed 10th. North Korea is expected to seek a return to the Winter Olympics at the 2030 Games, scheduled to be held in the French Alps.

North Korea made its Winter Olympics debut at the 1964 Innsbruck Games. Of the 16 Winter Olympics held through the 2022 Beijing Games, it sent athletes to only nine, or 56.3 percent. This stands in contrast to its participation in the Summer Olympics. After first competing at the 1972 Munich Games, North Korea skipped only the 1984 Los Angeles Games, the 1988 Seoul Games and the 2021 Tokyo Games.

North Korea has won one silver and one bronze medal at the Winter Olympics but has yet to claim a gold. At the 1964 Innsbruck Games, Han Pil-hwa, now 84, won silver in the women’s 3,000-meter speed skating event. At the 1992 Albertville Games, Hwang Ok-sil, now 54, earned bronze in the women’s 500-meter short track speed skating. By contrast, North Korea has collected 55 medals at the Summer Olympics, including 16 golds, 18 silvers and 27 bronzes.


조영우 jero@donga.com